Dear all,

The synthesis of Urban Sanitation Finance: From Macro to Micro Level is now available!

Read the synthesis of the thematic discussion on Urban Sanitation Finance: From Macro to Micro Level for a compilation of four weeks of discussion from Thematic Leads and SuSanA members.

You can access the document here .

Kind regards,
Katrin

Dear all,

Please find attached the summary for our discussion on "City level sustainable cost recovery."

The Table of Contents is as follows:

I. INTRODUCTION

II. URBAN SANITATION FINANCE: A LOOK AT TECHNOLOGY
(a) Onsite sanitation: An affordable option for urban areas in developing countries
(b) A service for onsite systems: Faecal sludge management (FSM)
(c) Challenges
(i) Pits and tanks are leaking
(ii) Tanks/pits can’t be accessed
(iii) Adherence to building codes

III. TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT CITY LEVEL SANITATION FINANCE
(a) Sanitation Finance is not solely a private matter
(b) Sanitation is not unaffordable
(c) Combining different sources of finance to achieve (full) cost recovery
(d) The 4 Ts in closer detail
(i) Tariffs
(ii) Taxes
(iii) Trade
(iv) Transfers
(e) Additional sources of finance
(f) Financing emptying services
(i) Local governments must be engaged in sludge collection/transport
(ii) Financing regular emptying of pits and tanks

IV. BEYOND FINANCE
(a) Acknowledging that sanitation is qualitatively different from water
(b) Effective management is needed
(c) Financial Tools to identify cost-effective sanitation solutions are needed
(d) Institutional changes are needed
(e) Communication with politicians has to be improved
(f) Small progress has to be sold better
(g) People need to be motivated to pay
(h) Corruption and distrust must be overcome – the vicious cycle needs to be broken

V. EXAMPLES
(a) Dumaguete City, Philippines
(b) Water District, Baliwag, Philippines
(c) Project 7, Maynilad Water, Philippines
(d) Bayawan system, southern Negros, Philippines
(e) Palo, Leyte, Philippines
(f) Kushtia, Bangladesh
(g) Karachi, Pakistan (1982)
(h) Sindh Province (Pakistan)
(i) Kalianda, Indonesia
(j) Bujumbura, Burundi
(k) Kampala, Uganda

VI. OUTLOOK

VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY

VIII. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DISCUSSION

***Please note that the attachment was updated on July 27***

Dear all,

Please find attached the summary for our discussion on "Public Finance at National Level"

The Table of Contents is as follows:

I. INTRODUCTION

II. TERMINOLOGY
(a) What are we talking about when we talk about “local taxation”?
(b) Redistributive taxes vs. non-redistributive taxes

III. IS THE ISSUE OF FINANCING REALLY OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM?

IV. WHY (LOCAL) TAXES AT ALL?

V. LOCAL TAXES – SPECIFICS: HOW CAN/SHOULD LOCAL TAXES BE USED?
(a) Taxes can be used to bridge a (i) timing mismatch, (ii) a revenue mismatch and/or (iii) underwrite funding
(b) Taxes can be used to finance three major types of expenditures
(c) Issues that arise when taxes are either redistributive or not redistributive
(d) Ways to prevent or at least soften controversy when using redistributive taxes as bridge funding

VI. CHALLENGES
(a) The success of local taxation depends on the administrative and fiscal systems in place
(b) The structure of financing systems is shaped by international aid processes
(c) Having a local taxation system in place is fine but the real problem is how to efficiently collect the taxes
(d) Mistrust in public institutions negatively affects tax collection
(e) Looking at taxation for sanitation requires a broader view that includes issues as e.g. functioning road networks

VII. EXAMPLES
(a) Uganda: Combining market finance, public finance and donor finance
(b) France: Intermunicipal management of sanitation
(c) Nepal: Doubting political leaders
(d) Pakistan: Problem of intransparency
(e) South Sudan/Juba: Attracting donors with local revenue generation

VIII. OUTLOOK

IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

X. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DISCUSSION

Dear Forum Members,

Please find attached the summary for last week's discussion on "Microfinance."
The Table of Contents is as follows:

I. INTRODUCTION

II. WHY IS SANITATION FINANCE AT MICRO LEVEL A TOPIC WORTH ADDRESSING?

III. IS SELLING DEBT TO HOUSEHOLDS ETHICAL?

IV. MICROFINANCE: WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
(a) A sanitation loan is not an income-generating loan
(b) Microfinance is more than just loans from MFIs

V. MICROFINANCE FOR SANITATION: APPROACHES AND POTENTIAL
(a) What could be approaches to facilitate access to finance for households?
(1) Development banks setting up funds earmarked for MFIs to extend sanitation loans
(2) “Hybrid” NGO-MFIs
(b) What about finance options for less accessible areas?
(c) Are MFIs at all interested in providing sanitation loans?
(d) Why does microfinance for sanitation work in India?

VI. MICROFINANCE FOR SANITATION: CHALLENGES
(a) Why are initiatives to facilitate access to sanitation still relatively small scale?
(b) What will it take to develop the market beyond piloting?

VII. COUNTRY EXPERIENCES
(a) Tanzania
(b) Cambodia
(c) Philippines
(d) Nicaragua
(e) Uganda

VIII. OUTLOOK

IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

X. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DISCUSSION

Dear all,

Please find attached the summary for our discussion on "Public Finance at National Level"

The Table of Contents is as follows:

I. INTRODUCTION

II. DEFINING “URBAN” IN “URBAN SANITATION FINANCE”

III. WHAT IS THE GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE OF THIS DISCUSSION?

IV. WHY DO WE ACTUALLY NEED NATIONAL LEVEL, DOMESTIC PUBLIC FINANCE FOR SANITATION?
(a) Sanitation is a public (health) issue
(b) Sanitation services cannot be (expected to be) paid by private households
(c) Using tax money for sanitation – it is both an advantage and a necessity
(d) The local level is important but not sufficient
(e) Does it have to be taxes? What about other financial models?

V. WHAT ARE THE CURRENT LEVELS OF DOMESTIC FINANCE AT NATIONAL LEVEL?

VI. HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY ADVOCATE FOR IMPROVED TRACKING AND MONITORING OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE FOR SANITATION BEYOND THE COMMUNITY AND THE DISTRICT LEVEL? DOES ANYONE HAVE GOOD EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAS WORKED OR NOT AND WHY?
(a) Can tracking and monitoring in the health sector offer an example for sanitation? Can insights be gained from other sectors?
(b) Example: PAS Project at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, India
(c) Resources for tracking and monitoring of government expenditure for sanitation
(d) Tracking the spending AND the impact
(e) Monitoring the finance Itself is necessary, yet difficult
(f) Fiscal decentralisation
(g) Development of strategic partnership for monitoring the finance

VII. WHAT CHALLENGES EXIST WITH REGARD TO PUBLIC FINANCE?
(a) Sanitation is influenced by political cycles
(b) A change of mindset has to be addressed before the issue of public financing can be tackled
(c) The question is how to mobilise funds
(d) The question is how best to utilise funds
(e) How do you develop a system worth paying for?
(f) Public/private nature of sanitation has to be addressed
(g) Regional and national financing come together

VIII. OUTLOOK: WHAT IS NEEDED? BY WHEN?

IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

X. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DISCUSSION

*** Please note that the attachment was updated on July 8***